1 day after lunch and during our subsequent froyo session @ Yoppi , I consulted Jason Bon Vivant for his opinion on what he thinks about how people refer to Frozen Yogurt as Fro-Yo nowadays, even though traditionally it was shortened to and written as Fro-Gurt, which happens to be more technically correct. Jason told me that in the past, he has eaten Frogurt in Canada which was formed from a large block of frozen yogurt cube, which was then squeezed through a manual lever machine and then softened up before serving. Oh, so that was how the 1st generation of Frozen Yogurt were made!
This got me really interested in trying a similar styled fro-gurt, and I was thinking it was about time to try out the good old Hong Kong’s Version made by Appolo, and yes its spelt differently from the mythological God Apollo for some weird reason..! This shop, according to my knowledge is as close as it will get to what Jason has mentioned as real frogurt. Here, frozen fruits are mixed together with a frozen yogurt base, then stirred together rigorously on a machine carrying a rotating mechanism and it definitely makes a weird and annoying humming noise upon the churning operation!
Frogurt and then the Hong Kong Ferry Ride –
How’s that for an exciting trip on the weekend !
Disregard please, the bottom row of pre-made Ice Creams.
It’s the Frozen Fruits at the top which had brought me here..
This is the Rotary-engined, Mazda RX-7 equivalent of a Frozen Yogurt 
Frozen fruits are blended with the yogurt base together right infront of you..
No artificial fruit syrups are added whatsoever, unlike most modern Froyo shops
Strawberry Frogurt -
This looked pretty and it still had small chunks of real strawberries within it. Now this is what I call a proper frozen yogurt!! 
Appolo still carries some appeal afterall, with its rare niche-market product-
If only it was made better. Compared to the proliferating Froyo shop openings which are over-saturating every street corner nowadays, this place is at least making frogurts based on real fruits than with easy shortcuts involving fruit syrups… It should be appreciated for what it stands up for, and I shall be back1 day to try their other real fruit flavours…
Price: $26
Score: ★★★☆☆☆
Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun - 10:00am - 22:00pm
Address: 尖沙咀天星碼頭地下KP-24號舖
(Star Ferry Port, Shop KP-24, Tsim Sha Tsui),
Ph: 2494-8881 for Main Office
Yeah the "froyo" movement I say started about 3 years ago at least in California USA. Prior to that I think the start of it all was in Korea, thanks to the likes of Red Mango, and now the successful USA Pinkberry chain. Most of the time they use artificial ingredients to make the yogurt taste so rich and creamy (when it is not done so well, it tastes really aweful). They target the younger demographic and use science marketing (i.e. probiotics in yogurt is good for you). The craze at least for us here has extended to "you build your own with your own toppings" self serve style. The trend now is making organic froyo, pairing with organic toppings or exotic citrus seasonal fruit flavored froyo to give it that tart tasting edge. Non Asian run froyo shops tend to do a little better. I prefer my yogurt fresh, and the best would be direct from a farm or some farmers market where the dairy farms would try to sell French country style yogurt in ceramic jars (meyer lemon flavor for example would be nice). Our other option is this drink of a very thick cold yogurt, Beijing style, called 北京酸奶 that's probably the most natural tasting (and close to what the yogurt drinks in Taiwan farms taste like).
ReplyDeleteCheck out my friend's exclusively froyo blog (California based). froyogirl.blogspot.com
Hi Beef No Guy,
ReplyDeleteGood point about the science marketing they use, with the probiotics and the so-called (but untrue!) low-fat properties. :)
Organic froyo... interesting indeed! Where can I eat that?
I love those artisanal French yoghurts too, they also have them in Greece from memory. Didn't know they make them in Beijing or Taiwan too! amazing... pls buy me some next time when u come past HK again :P
HK Epicurus